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The Word
Dianne Bergant
quot The Peaceable Kingdom rdquo a print by the German-born illustrator Fritz Eichenberg is one of many artistic representations of the oft-quoted passage from Isaiah we hear today We see animals that are natural enemies sitting together peacefully under the widespread branches of a sheltering
Books
Richard J. Hauser
View From the Altar is a must-read for all who are interested in understanding the causes of the scandal of sexual abuse by members of the Catholic clergy Howard Bleichner a Sulpician priest who has served for 40 years in seminary formation 20 of them as rector of two major seminaries deserves t
Editorials
The Editors
The signing of the new European constitution in Rome on Oct. 29 was a bittersweet moment for Catholics on the continent. It is the latest achievement of a movement initiated by postwar Christian Democrats, like Robert Schuman, Konrad Adenauer and Alcide de Gasperi, which began with the European Coal
Faith
Tim Muldoon
For many people today, globalization is happening at the dinner table. My wife and I, both of Irish-American descent, stare across the table every day at two exquisitely Chinese faces. As toddlers, both our daughters traveled halfway around the world to be at home with us, their hope-filled parents,
Jennie D. Latta
On July 6, 2004, the Archdiocese of Portland, Ore., became the first Catholic diocese in the history of the United States to seek the protection of the bankruptcy court. On Sept. 20, 2004, the Diocese of Tucson became the second. Both of these filings resulted from the wave of lawsuits brought again
Faith in Focus
Angelo Stagnaro
Among my New York City circle of friends, I am considered to be the best read. This is not because I am the most educated or gifted with the highest I.Q. It is because I have the longest commute. When one lives in the outer borroughs, as our less enlightened, Manhattan-centric brethren call them, on
The Word
Dianne Bergant
For many people the feast of the Immaculate Conception is as confusing as is the familiar statue that honors Mary under that title One reason is that the Gospel reading recounts the conception of Jesus not that of Mary As for the statue today rsquo s passage from Genesis clearly states that it
Books
Wayne A. Holst
In the years between the death of Martin Luther King Jr in 1968 and the end of the 20th century the Rev William Sloane Coffin Jr was the most influential liberal Protestant in America He never achieved King rsquo s level of influence but the media-friendly and pervasive force of his personalit
News
From AP, CNS, RNS, Staff and other sources
U.S. Bishops’ Conference Elects Skylstad and GeorgeAt their meeting in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 15-17, the National Conference of Catholic Bishops elected new leaders, approved a catechism for adults and joined a new ecumenical group aimed at bringing together all the Christian churches in th
Antony Barone Kolenc
Does the ban on partial-birth abortion really save babies’ lives? Does the ban violate the U.S. Constitution? How crucial is the ban to the pro-life movement? This summer, federal judges in California, New York and Nebraska dealt a major setback to pro-life efforts to ban the controversial par
The Word
Dianne Bergant
When citizens of the United States hear the word pilgrim they immediately think of the Puritans who were among the earliest European settlers of this country This is particularly true around the time of Thanksgiving when the words pilgrim and Puritan are often used interchangeably However the
Editorials
The Editors
Thanksgiving will be for many in the United States an occasion to gather around tables groaning under the weight of food in celebration of this quintessentially American holiday. But as we give thanks, we also pray for those who are hungry. Not only does hunger remain a primary cause of mortality in
Books
Cecilio Morales
Jan 8 this year marked the 40th anniversary of President Lyndon B Johnson rsquo s declaration of unconditional war on poverty in America just weeks after taking office in the wake of John F Kennedy rsquo s assassination Johnson rsquo s successor Ronald Reagan asserted in 1988 however that P
Sherryl White
They’re coming. Just as surely as pumpkins and cornstalks are appearing on porches and doorsteps, you’ll soon see them popping up from behind pulpits. Microphone in one hand, scribbled notes discreetly clutched in the other, the men and women religious of the country are coming to your p
Letters
Our readers

Sensitive to Learning

In response to Adults Left Behind (10/11), in which William J. Byron, S.J., observed that society owes our illiterate adults something in compensation for failing them when they were children, a reader, Rudy Cypser, wrote (11/1) that this is another case of finding the root cause of symptoms and trying to do something about it.

But if the root cause of illiteracy is something that happenedor did not happento these unfortunate citizens in their early years when they were receptive to learning, can they really go back? The evidence would indicate otherwise; for hundreds of adults, it is too late now to make a substantial difference through adult remedial instruction. It is also prohibitively expensive.

This is why programs like the Harlem-based Casa de los Nios for 3- to 5-year-olds, under the direction of the Montessori Development and Training Corporation, are sorely needed if we want to interrupt the cycle of illiteracy.

The alternative to remedial programs is to catch children when they are sensitive to language development and learning in general. If you have a small child in your life, you know his constant Why?; and if you care about that child, you will not become impatient and turn off his natural curiosity by sitting him in front of the television set to be quiet; instead you will, as psychologist J. McVicker Hunt has said, match his level of readiness to know with appropriate learning activities or find an affordable institution that provides them. All the research points to this wisdom, but all too few academic programs for young children apply it effectively. Why do we wait until failure sets in and then wring our hands? Why do we waste time and throw away so many lives?

Marion Ragsdale

News
From AP, CNS, RNS, Staff and other sources
End of Catholic Vote’? Church Attendance May Predict Vote BetterThe Catholic vote sought with such determination in this year’s presidential race went to President George W. Bush in about the same proportion as the rest of the country’s votes. As they study results from this year&r
Books
Thomas Hughson
This volume of essays so exemplifies civil yet strenuous exchange on volatile topics in contemporary Catholicism that it exceeds a search for common Catholic ground and becomes instead that much-praised seldom-found reality a community of discourse And that takes into account the sharp point in P
George M. Anderson
Martha Stewart expressed disappointment upon learning that she would be serving her sentence at the federal women’s prison in Alderson, W.Va. Its remoteness, she said through a lawyer prior to her arrival, would make it difficult for friends, family members and attorneys to visit. But when the
Ellen Rufft
I am not certain whether it’s my personality or a result of a traditional Catholic background, but I frequently find myself making resolutions. I respond to all the typical opportunities to start over—New Year’s Day, Advent, Lent—and also create some of my own. The Easter sea
Books
Kirk Zebolsky
Books about America rsquo s grasslands have traditionally been written somewhere else John Price a writer of nature and spiritual essays from Iowa who teaches in Nebraska shows one way to stay at home and find success as a responsible grasslands resident if not necessarily as a best-selling auth